Chapter Twenty-eight: No Place for Children

*Sota*

Sota woke up feeling cold and his head pounding. Blinking in confusion he stayed where he was for another minute as he slowly regained control of his limbs.

He slowly raised his head and looked around; he was shivering so badly that he was afraid that he might bite his tongue off from his chattering teeth. He seemed to be in some room made of dark stone and no windows… where was he?

"Hello, little boy," said a dark voice. Sota jumped and looked around to see that a man with long, hair and red eyes was looking at him hungrily.

"W-w-who are y-you?" he stuttered from both fear and cold before moved backwards until he was pressed up against the wall. "I'm w-warning you! D-don't come a-any c-c-closer!"

The man only laughed which caused Sota to curl up in a ball, fighting hard not to cry. Then the man spoke in a dark voice that sent shivers down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold, "Don't worry… I'm not going to kill you."

He came closer and, despite what he said, Sota closed his eyes and hugged himself tightly as if hoping to protect himself somehow. He then felt as if a block of ice touched the back of his neck and he let out a shriek of terror when he realized that it was the man's hand.

"First I need to get what I want from your sister… and I know that living bait will serve me better than a dead one. So for now… go to sleep…"

Sota then felt the hand grip his neck tightly, rubbing him of all breath before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and fell onto the floor with a muffled 'thunk'.

The man only grinned as he turned his attention to the only door out of this room. The cold couldn't do a thing to him… but… he smiled. A human would most likely freeze to death in this room by morning.

He had sent Kagura with an invitation to Inuyasha and the others… including the girl who had the Sacred Jewel… now, he had to go and greet the players. He shut the door behind him, leaving the unconscious boy behind him… "Welcome to my pallor said the spider to the flies," he muttered to himself with another dark sneer.

Either way, this was going to be a fun game tonight.

*Kagome*

Kagome gripped the back of Inuyasha's shirt so tightly that she felt as if her knuckles were going to pop out of joint. She wanted to flee from reality, wanted to flee from this pain she felt inside of her chest. She felt as if she sinking into dark waves, unable to breathe anymore. She actually started coughing and clutched her chest as her lungs screamed for air.

"I can't believe this!" she said furiously, angry tears beginning to form in her eyes. Sota… her one and only little brother was kidnapped by vampires! And evil ones as well! Why did all this seem to be happening to her? Oh, this Naraku jerk better hope that he didn't do anything to her brother because if he hurt just one hair on his head, she was going to make him regret it if it was the last thing she did!

"Look, we'll find him, Kagome," Inuyasha called over the rush of wind. Kagome bit her lower lip as she held onto Sota's coat even tighter. Kagome hadn't felt any of the happy free feelings she did before whenever Inuyasha took her out; only fear and anger. She rubbed her eyes angrily as asked, "Shoun Falls? That's what Kagura said right? Isn't that an amusement park that closed down a while back?"

"An amusement park?" Shippo asked from behind them.

"It was," Miroku said thoughtfully, "But it's now a ghost town. It finally got so run-down that they had no choice but to shut it down so that they could work repairs on it. I hear that it's going to take a few years before they're able to get it up and running again."

"But why would Naraku be there?" Sango shouted over the roaring wind.

"Who would think to look for an evil vampire in an amusement park?" Kirara asked them. "Also, the construction workers are also postponing the repairs until winter is over. It's the perfect place to hide."

"So all we have to do is burst in, find my brother, and beat up Naraku? Easy right?" Kagome asked as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Inuyasha smirked. That sounded like something he would say.

"I think that Inuyasha's a bad influence on you, Kagome," Miroku called, and she could tell that there was a slight smirk in his tone.

"I can act like that because my brother's in danger!" she snapped back. She hugged Sota's coat to her chest and thought, 'Sota, please be safe.' She bit her lip so hard that she might've started bleeding again if she didn't remember that she was in the company of some thirsty vampires.

Onward they travelled until they were clear across town where the old amusement park now stood dark and empty. She barely had time to read the name over the rusted gate before Inuyasha leapt over it as if he had springs attached to his feet. They landed lightly and the others joined them the moment that Inuyasha let Kagome jump down.

"So," Miroku asked her seriously once they all gathered together, "What does your brother look like?"

"I know!" Shippo said raising his hand.

"What does it matter?" Kagome asked quickly as she looked around as if hoping that he would come running out to join her. "He's most likely the only other human here! He's about ten years old and he's got black eyes and hair."

She looked at this living nightmare in front of her—she used to come to this park all the time when she was little with her family, but being here in the middle of the night with all the lights off and no people around showed her just how creepy it could be. She almost didn't recognized it as she looked at the warped shapes of the darkened rides and stands, the way that the wind made everything creak sinisterly. This looked more like a horror movie and was half expecting a zombie hoard to come crawling out.

She shivered as she moved slightly closer to Inuyasha and they began walking forward into the park.

Shippo was still clinging to Miroku's shoulder and he gulped, "What a creepy, place. This is a amusement park?"

"I agree with you there, Shippo," Miroku said as he looked at the broken horse heads from what was once a carousal. Kagome looked at the broken tracks for the rollercoaster that towered above them as Sango glanced at the shattered mirrors in front of a House of Mirrors.

This was definitely not the kind of place you would want to take small children.

"Jeez, Naraku, could you have picked a more haunte-looking place?" Kirara asked as they stepped over some shards of glass and broken wood.

"Well, if you're a vampire, it's probably the best place to hide if you're looking to scare people," Sango reasoned. "Second only to Dracula's castle. I mean… this empty place is creepy even during the day."

Kagome was hardly listening as she kept her eyes wide open and looked around so often, that she felt like an owl.

"Kagome, we'll find him," Sango assured her gently. "But he's not going to be in the open where we can see him."

"You can smell him right?" Kagome asked quickly as she spun to look at them. "His blood I mean, right?"

"The problem is that we also smell other vampires," Inuyasha grunted. "And they all reek so bad that they're overpowering everything else." None of them dare tell her this, but the truth was that these vampires also reeked with human blood.

They stayed close together, not looking over any little thing that moved. The darkness seemed to be pressing in around them… and then at last…

They heard a dark chuckle from above. They stopped dead in their tracks and Kagome looked up at once to see that someone was standing up on the rollercoaster that she had glanced at not five minutes ago. There, silhouetted against the crescent moon, was a tall man with long, black hair blowing in the wind. He was smiling in a way that sent shivers up her spine… but she was mesmerized by fear at his eyes… a blood-red that shown like rubies that had been dipped in blood.

She heard Inuyasha growling as he positioned himself so that he was standing right in front of her protectively. "Naraku!" he yelled up with such venom that she wouldn't have been surprised if he suddenly started spitting poison.

Kagome's anger soared as well and she shouted, "So you're Naraku? Where's my brother? I swear if you've hurt a single hair on his head you're going to be sorry!"

Naraku sneered down at her. "Oh? So you must be the reincarnation of the priestess that I've heard so much about."

"How do you know about her?" Miroku demanded and Kagome realized that her friends had formed a tight circle around her to hide her from view.

Naraku smiled widely, his fangs glistening in the darkness. "Oh, I have spies all over the place. It really wasn't too hard to figure out to be honest."

"What about my brother!" Kagome repeated, not feeling fear or cold at the moment… just a pulsing anger pounding in her veins.

"Oh, he's fine for now," Naraku assured her. "We haven't done a thing to him… yet…"

Kagome gritted her teeth. "Where is he?" she screamed up at him.

"I'm afraid that if you want him back so badly, you'll have to find him," Naraku smirked. He held his arms out wide and said, "Let's think of it as a game shall we! You find your brother and escape to win! If you can't find him by the time the sun rises, you both will die! Sounds like fun don't you think?"

"You're as sick as always," Sango yelled in disgust. "Still treating innocent people as if they're nothing but pawns in your game world!"

He only laughed which caused them all to become even more enraged. "And what of it? Life is a game, I simply prefer to play it my way. I'm not lying however, the kid you seek is here at Shoun Falls. Of course, you will have to defeat all of my soldiers to do so. They're all hidden here…" he looked at her and Kagome knew that he was talking directly to her. "Unless of course you want to give me the Sacred Jewel now and be spared the trouble."

Kagome blinked. The jewel? But she didn't have it? What was he playing at?

"What are you…?" she began, but Miroku put his hand on her shoulder.

"No," he whispered so quietly she almost didn't hear him. "That's why he's doing this. He thinks that we already have the jewel… as long as he thinks that, then he won't kill you or Sota. But the second he realizes you don't, he won't feel the need for a game."

At that, Kagome immediately shut her mouth, but she wasn't at all happy about this.

"You haven't changed a bit!" Inuyasha yelled up. "Why don't you face me like a man instead of hiding behind all your plans and flunkies like a coward?"

"All in good time, Inuyasha," Naraku smiled at him. "Oh, and speaking of which… I see that I'm not the only one. Why else would you be here with that guilty conscience of yours?"

Inuyasha roared with rage and went charging ahead.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed and made to follow, but the others held her back. Inuyasha jumped up so hard and fast it was as if he was flying. Kagome held her breath as he reached Naraku, slashed at him with his claw…

Only for the evil vampire to disappear. Inuyasha's claws attacked only air and she heard him let out another roar of rage.

Suddenly, she heard Naraku's voice speaking again. She spun around, trying to get some kind of a glimpse at him, but couldn't see a trace of where he was. "But as in all games, I will be kind enough to give you a hint… the boy is hidden in a place where it's only a matter of time before his life draws ever nearer to the end. That is your hint… happy hunting."

And just like that… he was gone.

Breathing hard as if she had run a mile, Kagome looked at the others and said quickly, "What did he mean?"

"He must be talking about one of the rides and attractions," Miroku said at once.

"No duh, you idiot," Sango said firmly. "The question is where? Naraku could've hidden him anywhere in this park! And there's no shortage of hiding places."

"N-no idea," Shippo stuttered, hiding behind Miroku as if he was a shield.

"Look," Inuyasha said unusually rushed, as he jumped back down to join them. "Naraku said we have to find the kid before the sun rises right? What time is it now?"

Sango checked her watch, "It's almost 2 in the morning."

"The sun doesn't usually rise until five or six," Miroku said at once anxiously. "That's not a lot of time."

"We'll just have to check the whole park then," Inuyasha said at once. "If I can get close enough to him, I'm sure that I can pick up his scent."

"I don't think that'll work, Inuyasha," Kirara said hurriedly. "I'm sure that Naraku thought that out—he knows us well by now. And what about his guards and traps? They could be anywhere couldn't they?"

"If we can't deal with his servants after five hundred years then we have no hope of beating Naraku," he snapped back. "Just break up into teams and search the park. If we see any of his servants, just deal with them! We have to hurry!"

"He's right," Miroku grunted.

"Great," Inuyasha said as he grasped Kagome by the hand, "Come with me, Kagome."

"Inu…?" Kagome began, but before she could finish, he pulled her onto his back and they hit the ground running.

"Look, I'm sorry for getting you involved in our problems," he told her as they sprinted past a broken Dunk Tank and a Velcro Wall. "I promise that I'll find your brother and get you both home."

"Thanks, I know you will, Inuyasha," Kagome said as she leaned her head against his shoulder. But something was bothering her. What did Naraku mean about Inuyasha's guilty conscience? And why did Naraku think that she had the jewel? If his spies were as good as he said they were, then wouldn't he know already that they didn't have it?

But rather than dwell on that, she shook her head out of her dark thoughts. She would worry about that once they saved Sota.

(Sorry for the long wait, but I hope that it was worth it as always. So where do you think he is? Anyone have any guesses or ideas. And to those who have been asking, yes, I've moved my 'Discovering the Legend' series to a new site. It's written on my profile if you want to know where it is. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll get it updated as soon as I can.)